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    Hello! We are Kelly and Allison, best friends who are all about healthy living. We believe that one of the easiest and most important steps in living a less toxic lifestyle is using a human-safe cleaning soap. Enter Branch Basics! Although miles apart, Kelly in Virginia and Allison in Texas, we love to come together and share all the ways you can use this amazing soap!.

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  • Before and After Bathroom Pics (Brace Yourself)

    Posted by kelly
    Monday, May 6th, 2013

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    Ok, since the “before” pic of my bathroom was too nasty to post on Facebook along with the picture above, I decided I would make our blog ugly instead of our FB page after a request for the image. Plus I have more room to explain myself on the blog.  :)

    So as I’ve told my friends before, “Just because I founded a cleaning product doesn’t mean I’m the cleanest person in the world.” That is my disclaimer for the following pictures of my nasty shower. I’m also going to throw in the fact that I recently started using clay shampoos (literally like brown mud) and it’s not ideal for keeping a clean shower.

    ANYWAY, here’s what my nasty shower looked like before I went to town with Branch Basics.

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    Here’s a close up to really gross you out…

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    Now that you’re officially disgusted and I’m officially mortified, I’ll show you the after pics…

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    And don’t worry, the shower wasn’t the only thing that needed a good clean. Check out my filthy mirror…

    Before

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    And then after…

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    Streak-free and squeaky clean!

    So there you have it… a sneak peak into my formerly really gross bathroom.

    Well, at least now you know Branch Basics works, right?!

    kelly signature image for blog

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    Testimonial Tuesday

    Posted by kelly
    Tuesday, March 26th, 2013

    Teresa Kerner green block

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    Testimonial Tuesday

    Posted by kelly
    Wednesday, March 20th, 2013

    purple jeneec martinez

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    Testimonial Tuesday

    Posted by kelly
    Tuesday, March 12th, 2013

    Dear Branch Basics,

                                jennifer_mint

    … searching for “green” products and natural cleaners, but never could seem to find anything (and I have tried SOOOOO many of them–wasting so much money) that worked well, or still printed “must use in a well-ventilated area” on the bottle. There were also so many questionable ingredients even in many of the “green” products on the market and the many different smells and fragrances that accompanied them were just horrible (I’m extremely sensitive to smells/fragrances), 98% of them were very ineffective for what I needed them to do… UGH. I tried cleaning with vinegar and baking soda for awhile, but the smell of the vinegar really made me sick and I felt like it didn’t get things as clean as I wanted them to be. I had all these homemade concoctions for cleaning different things and it was so cumbersome. I wasn’t happy with any of those solutions.

    I have 4 small children (ages 6 and under) and I always felt so horrible about cleaning the bathroom, mirrors, mopping floors or whatever with cleaners that seemed to fume for hours even after I was finished cleaning with them. I didn’t want to expose them directly to the chemical cleaners I was using in our home. I would never let them in the same room with me when I was cleaning something. I too, shuddered at the thought of needing to spend a large portion of the day inhaling those chemicals myself, thinking all the while how horrible this must be for my body and lungs. The children also always complained about the vinegar smell when I used that. They also always want to “help” me when I’m cleaning and I never would let them because I didn’t want them handling chemicals. So, we were all feeling unhappy about the whole cleaning/cleaners situation and so I ended up not really cleaning that much because of the impasse I’d arrived at in regards to using cleaning products that were terribly unhealthy or just plain ineffective. I just did enough cleaning to barely get by and keep the house presentable.

    Like I said in my previous email, your cleaner is the solution that I have dreamed about for years. My criteria for the type of product I was looking for was quite lengthy. I wanted something that really worked, something that was an all-purpose cleaner, something that was natural and not laden with chemicals, something that didn’t have any odor or smell, something that I could feel good about my small kids using to help me, something that I could use while my kids were in the same room with me, and something that was cost-effective and budget friendly.

    I have to say when I read about Branch Basics I was a little skeptical. Then I read more on your website about some of your own personal stories and experiences. I knew that with the experiences that the founders of Branch Basics had, this HAD to be worth trying. When my first order (the 32oz.) arrived, I tried it right away and was so very impressed. My trial run left me with streak free mirrors, clean toilets, sparkling stainless steel appliances with NO fingerprints, grease-free stovetop and range, super clean granite countertops, etc. I was floored. It didn’t have an odor. It really worked. It was definitely all-purpose. It was natural and chemical-free. It was cost-effective. 

    It met ALL of my criteria. I was holding my “dream cleaner” in my hand. I was SO excited. I knew that Branch Basics was going to change my (cleaning) life. 

    Now, after one week of using Branch Basics, I am thrilled to say that I can clean whenever I want and wherever I want to in my house while carrying one bottle of cleaner. This has made cleaning SO easy and convenient for me! The fact that this is truly “fragrance-free” is wonderful. I don’t have to worry about my kids being in the same room with me because of fumes. And hey, I can give them a spray bottle and a rag and put them to work. I don’t worry about what irreparable damage I am doing to my own body. I can say that my house is cleaner today than it has been in SO long. Mostly because for the first time EVER, I’ve been able to “multitask” while playing with the little ones or keeping my eye on them while they play; I can spray down a few things and clean them, or wipe down the floor, whatever. I couldn’t be happier. And I haven’t even tried using it for laundry and hand soap yet.  

    Anyway, I know I sound like an infomercial, but you need to know that your Branch Basics cleaner is amazing and a HUGE help to this mama.

    Thank you and best regards,

    Jennifer

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    BB Goes Honeymoonin’

    Posted by kelly
    Friday, March 1st, 2013

    honeymoon collage option 2

    I got married in September, but because of my husband’s work schedule we couldn’t go on our honeymoon until February. WHAT A BLESSING. We were so grateful to escape the cold in Virginia and enjoy the beautiful, sunny weather of the Caribbean! We went to Grenada, not knowing anything about it, and we LOVED it. It was incredible! The beaches, the food, the people, the place we stayed, all the activities we did….amazing!

    Since I rarely go anywhere (especially on a trip) without a travel-size spray bottle of Branch Basics, you better believe I brought it to Grenada. Check out the 5 different ways BB was most useful…

    gunk on sunglasses

    ONE.  Some nail polish remover had leaked in my purse and made the leather on my pink wallet rub off and my sunglasses were a victim of the mess. I attacked the pink gunk stuck all over them with a few sprays of BB and after letting it sit for 30 seconds or so, I rinsed them off in the sink. I had to scrub a little with my finger but in the end, good as new! (Except for the scratches. Too bad BB doesn’t take those away.)

    washing face

    TWO. I normally wash my face with Branch Basics using a big foaming pump bottle so there’s a lather, but since I didn’t want to take up the space I just sprayed my face directly with the little sprayer. I did this day and night. (BB works wonders for removing eye makeup!)

    sunburn with filter

    THREE.  Even though I put sunscreen on in the mornings, I didn’t really reapply after swimming in the ocean.  After a long day in the sun, my poor skin was nice and red. I gave my whole sunburned body a spray down with BB to help heal my skin and reduce the redness. (Branch Basics is very soothing and healing for skin conditions, including sunburns!)

    cut rash on sams arm

    FOUR. While snorkeling, Sam (my husband) scraped by some coral and the scratch turned into a spotted, red patch on his wrist. It would have been best to soak it in a little bowl of BB, but I just sprayed it throughout the day and it healed up nicely. (My buns had a run-in with some coral, too, but it didn’t seem appropriate or pleasant to take a pic of that, so I stuck with Sam’s wrist!)

    chocolate stain on bed

    FIVE. Finally, BB totally saved me by getting a chocolate stain out of the white comforter. How did the chocolate stain get there in the first place?? Weeellll, I may have been eating the Grenadian chocolate bar that was in our mini fridge while lying in bed watching episodes of Downton Abbey season 3 as Sam was taking a nap. It was pretty awesome. (Man I wish I could go back to that moment….french doors open to a view of the ocean, organic chocolate, most importantly, no knowledge of how season 3 ended!) Anyway, I simply sprayed BB onto the stain once or twice, got a Q-tip and gently agitated it, gave it one more spray, and the stain was gone!

    So as you can see, Branch Basics proved to be quite useful on the trip. And we’ve got good news for you! It won’t be too long before we start selling pre-diluted 2 oz. spray bottles like the one in the pictures. That way you can keep BB on you at all times and not have to worry about using the toxic soaps and hand sanitizers in public places or showing up somewhere with a stain on your shirt. And the best part? Once you run out…simply refill!

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